MIDDLESEX TWP — A township man faces a hearing next month on charges he pointed a rifle at two county assessors who were on the job inspecting his property.

Lindsay McConnell, 58, is charged with misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and harassment in connection with the incident July 16. No one was injured.

The employees of the Butler County Assessment Office had gone to the defendant's house about 10 a.m. to conduct a field check of his property on Lindo Lane off Route 8, Middlesex Township police said.

A field check is a physical inspection of property during which assessors take measurements of structures and verify buildings on the property.

Police Sgt. Randy Ruediger said McConnell is performing a subdivision of the nearly 9½ acres of property he owns.

The assessment office employees told police that they knocked on the door twice and rang the door bell but got no answer.

They eventually went to the back of the defendant's house and began to measure the deck and take photographs. Court documents noted that the assessors believed the deck looked “different” from what their records indicated.

When the workers moved their inspection to the garage, police said, they reported seeing a man come up behind them and point an AR-15 rifle at them.

Both assessors recounted that the man, later identified as McConnell, had his “finger on the trigger,” police said.

They told Ruediger that they identified themselves, telling the defendant who they were and showing him their credentials attached to their waists.

McConnell allegedly told them to “get the (expletive) out of here or I'll end it right here.”

The pair got into their vehicle and drove straight to the township police station to report what happened.

“The victims were visibly kind of shaken over the ordeal,” Ruediger said Monday.

The officer soon after the incident learned that McConnell had called 911 to request an officer in reference to “trespassers” at his house, documents said.

Later that afternoon, Ruediger went to McConnell's house. He called the defendant “very cooperative.”

According to McConnell's account, he thought he heard a knock at the door. He looked out the back and saw two people walking down the steps of his deck.

“He retrieved his weapon and exited the residence,” according to the officer's affidavit.

McConnell said he confronted the two people — a man and woman — and asked them what they were doing there. He acknowledged that the woman told him they were from the assessment office.

“He says he told them, 'I don't care who you are,' the affidavit said. He also admitted telling them to leave.

“But he indicated that he never felt threatened (by the employees),” Ruediger said Monday.

He denied intentionally pointing the AR-15 at the assessors. The gun, he told police, had ammunition in the magazine but no rounds were chambered.

The defendant also recounted that he took a business card from the woman but claimed he “didn't think the card felt real,” documents said.

McConnell on Aug. 14 was charged by summons. His preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 12 at the office of District Judge Sue Haggerty in Saxonburg.